There are countless different ways to make resolutions and change.

I would strongly recommend you take time to write a letter to your future self.

Doing this exercise is a very insightful experience. Just imagine writing a letter to yourself based on 1 year from now, then opening it at that exact moment 1 year from now to see how much of it you achieved. Writing your Dear Me letter helps crystallize exactly how you anticipate yourself to become over the next 12 month period. 

At the very moment you are writing your letter, your conscious is captured and stored within the words. Upon opening your letter you get to compare your writings with reality. What was really important to you will have been remembered and achieved. The letter lets you see in totality how much things have changed over the past 12 months – in itself this is an intriguing experience. It’s interesting to just see how much you have grown/changed since you wrote the letter.

No longer will a Year just drift and unaccountable.

You begin by writing Dear Carey (in my case) and summarising the year that has just past. An honest assessment of how you saw the year through your eyes.

Then select your headings – mine are:

            Family            Health            Work            Financial  

The writings should be totally written to yourself describing what you want to achieve in your selected headings.

The writing should not be over 2 pages.

Once you have completed your writing sit quietly and read over them a minimum of 5 times.

Then it is time to seal up your letter and either place in a secure area or give your letter to a trusted friend to be handed or posted back at year end.

I know many people who now write a personal letter to themselves every year. It has made a consistent change process for me with a path to follow.

I am more than happy to provide help with your personal letter or to hold any letters in safe keeping. 

For more information of goal setting please visit Dwayne Alexander web site at

http://www.livemygoals.com/

My best wishes to you for a successful 2011 and beyond.

Last weekend I heard a story regarding a new match official who was in a position of having to use knowledge and experience against a backdrop of potential consequences.  This was the situation.  It was this match official’s second game that he had refereed; it was the second half with approximately 20 minutes to go and the score was 12/10.  A scrum was packed and a player was left injured on the ground with an unknown but significant enough injury to stop the game on the basis that it could have been a serious neck or back injury. On to the field come well-meaning managers, who want to pick him up and take him out of play so the game can continue. The match official, who had recently attended a duty of care seminar, said that they were not to move him and that he would phone for an ambulance,  which he did, but the ambulance would be at least 20 minutes.  Do you move the player knowing the risk?  If there were no other players around you wouldn’t move him but there were cries of “let’s continue the game.”   The game was more important to the players than the player was. The managers started to move the player; the match official told them that if they physically moved the player that he would leave the ground.  Consequently he called off the game and left the ground.  The ambulance arrived; the player was taken to hospital for observation and it was discovered that he had sustained a back injury.

We all have a duty of care to not only know the circumstances but also the consequences.  When you make decisions based on a duty of care then the consequences will have far less exposure to risk.

The match official did the right thing, as he was the only one who showed a duty of care.  It is not only paramount in business but in all walks of life. The consequences of not respecting duty of care could have been quite dire for this particular player.

I also find myself with an opportunity to walk the streets of a new destination in the City previously unknown to me. I was up and away early this morning on a walk that was first searched on Google – seemed appropriate to do that considering it has been the most discussed topic here. What is San Francisco famous for? – The Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Could I potentially see both at the same time? San Francisco has some of the steepest streets in the world so what did I search? “List of the steepest streets to see Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge”. It came up with the 10 steepest streets in San Francisco.  I chose the 5^th steepest.

A quick insight in the Golden Gate Bridge that we heard yesterday by the host of Inman – When the bridge was built the men knew there was a safety net below they stated that the ‘safety net’ increased productivity but 30%. It also has the highest rate of suicide in the world one person every week. With no safety net the consequences are known.

The street I walked up was steep in any language – and as I climb it was thinking about the view that hopefully I would see from the top. My slow steps however were a testament of the climb to the top it was hard work. I made it – The view from the top was exhilarating. The Golden Gate Bridge to my right and Alcatraz straight ahead. I reflected. The view at the top is much different to the few even 10 steps before. You must make the top to achieve the view. But I then began to wonder about the No 1 steepest street. A flash of ‘think again’ came over me. Why would you necessary get the best view at the steepest street in San Francisco? Maybe the highest but that doesn’t mean the steepest.

The business I lead is No 2 in the industry. I do not get to see the view from the top in our business or industry. I am surrounded by those who do. The language at the top is different to the language I use. The business leaders at the top have walked up the hill. They know the you go down quicker when you are the top than when you are still on the climb.

We could do this – We must do this.

We should do this – We will do this.

The dream position must be to reach your capacity but be forever testing it and create room to take another step up the hill of momentum.

The climb must never stop.